Frostbitten
by Jennyb793
Summary: Gemma Rosemont never expected her life to fall apart but when she loses both of her parents & moves to live with her aunt and uncle, she has to find a way to pick up the pieces. She doesn't feel like there's much to believe in anymore, but what if her cousin Jamie could help her? And what if he introduced her to the one person who gives her a reason to believe? JackXOC
1. Colder Than I Remember

** watch?v=Km_yWVCGTrM**** Tongue Tied- Faber Drive**

**Ninety nine percent of the time when I write a story I am listening to music- it inspires me- so I am going do something new & try to post one song per chapter, whichever song I was listening to when I wrote it. That way I get to let you guys in on my inspiration and you have some tunes to listen to :) So chapter one was brought to you by the track above. Enjoy! **

_They say that Jack Frost is responsible for the chill you feel in the winter, when frost turns your window into a drawing board and the wind nips at your nose. He's the one who whips up the snow and sends it flying through the air, twirling and dancing. But just because you see and feel all of this, does it mean that you truly believe? I didn't. Not at first. But Jack has a way of getting noticed and I have no idea what I would have done if he hadn't of knocked on my window that night. He changed my life. And he could change yours too, if you let yourself believe... _

It was cold outside. Colder than I remembered it being last winter. But then again I was 3,000 feet above the ground. I dropped my hand from the plane window and leaned back, resting my head against the seat with a sigh. I let my eyes dropped closed, heavy from exhaustion and crying, and listened to the hum of the plane as it hung in the air. Ten more minutes until we reached the airport, or at least that was what the pilot had said a few minutes ago. I could already feel the plane slowly starting to descend.

People shuffled around me, talking softly and tilting their heads up to try and figure out the best way to get their luggage out of the overhead carriers. There was no one next to me and I was grateful that the row was empty. I didn't want to talk to anyone. In fact, I wasn't sure that I wanted the plane to land. As long as I hung up here, suspended in the air, then I didn't have to admit to what had happened. I could pretend that everything was normal. That my life wasn't falling to pieces...

I turned back to the window, pulling up the shade so I could see the sky. Snowflakes were swirling outside of the window and I wondered how they could form this high up, there were no clouds. I glanced around at the rest of the sky and noticed the moon off in the distance, bright and full. Wow it was big. A thought flickered through my mind- a memory- how my mother used to tell me stories about the man in the moon. How long ago that seemed.

I shook my head, chasing the thought away. The last thing I needed was to start crying on a plane. I pressed my face against the glass using the cold surface to try and clear my head. Maybe I could get a better look at the moon... I began to turn, when I saw a flash out of the corner of my eye.

_What was that? _It was too fast to be another plane. In fact it was so quick that I wondered for a moment I wondered if I had just imagined it.

"Miss?"

A voice startled me out of my thoughts and I turned to see one of the flight attendants looking at me expectantly.

"Yes?"

"Your ipod." She motioned to my lap and I looked down, only then realizing that I still had my ear buds in. I had paused the music long ago. "I'll need you to store that until we land."

"Oh." I said. "Right. I'm sorry."

I yanked the cords out of my ear and watched as she walked away, checking that all of the other passengers were ready to land. With my ear buds out I could hear more and I closed my eyes again, trying to find any new sounds. I turned it into a sort of game with myself and I had almost forgotten about the strange flash, when I heard something new. A sharp tap in the window. My eyes shot open and I turned my head just in time to see another flash, then it was gone.

"What the-"

That time I was sure I hadn't imagined it. And that time I was also sure that it wasn't just snow I saw because part of the flash had been blue. Had that thing just tapped on the window? I wasn't sure that birds could fly this high but that was the only logical explanation... Wasn't it?

I shook my head. Oh gosh I really was going insane. This was the last thing I needed. Without thinking I unwound my ear buds and shoved them back in my ears, turning up the music. The flight attendant could go bother someone else. I doubted my music would cause the plane to crash and right now I needed the distraction. _'Bright cold silver moon, tonight alone in my room, you were here just yesterday...' _This time I actually listened to the words, letting them pull me away as our plane made its way closer and closer to the ground.


	2. Nothing is Coincidence

**Hurt So Good- Carly Rae Jepsen**

**At first I was going to say that this song really has no connection to the story- just a damn catchy beat- but then I realized that one of the lines is 'you don't see me but you should' and that definitely connects to Gemma & Jack's story.**

"You did what?"

North stared at Jack in horror. The young guardian was seated on one of the workshop tables, leaning against one knee while his staff dangled from his hand.

"I tapped on the window."

"Why would you do that?"

"She looked sad."

North set down the toy he had been inspecting and put two massive fists on his hips, his bushy eyebrows furrowing. "Jack, you can not just go around tapping on windows and startling children."

"She wasn't a child." Jack said defensively and he felt and unfamiliar heat flood his face as he thought back on it. He had noticed the girl when he was flying on one of the winter winds. He had been testing how high it could carry him when he almost bumped into the plane. He had seen these human inventions, but not so close, so he decided to get a better look. The sun had already sunk below the horizon and with the sky so dark, not many window shades were up, but hers was. Jack knew that he probably shouldn't waste his time there, he had guardian duties that he had to attend to, but he was never one to show up on time anyway and his curiosity got the better of him.

The girl had long dark brown hair that fell almost to her rib cage and sad green eyes. Her lips were pressed into a thin line and as he watched she touched her head against the window with a sad sigh. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen someone look so broken. He wanted to do something to help, but he also knew that there was little likelihood that she could see him, so he flew past. And that's when he saw her eyes widen.

Her head turned to follow him and he almost fell right out of the sky. Had she seen him? He thought only children could see him and she certainly didn't look like a child. He dropped back, letting the wind carry him to her window once again. He grabbed onto the side of the plane and peeked into the window. The girl's attention was on one of the flight attendants and he watched as her eyes moved to something on her lap- an ipod, if he remembered right. He had seen North wrap a few in preparation for Christmas- and she began to wind the earpiece around it.

A moment later she closed her eyes and Jack was surprised to feel something tug in his chest, like he had lost something precious. He wanted her to open her eyes again, but he didn't know how. So he did the first thing he could think of, he tapped on the window. It had worked and he was rewarded by her curious look. Thinking back on it, he felt himself smile. If only he had stuck around longer, but he was already late getting to the pole and he knew that North would rip him a new one if he was tardy for guardian duties again.

"She was not a child?" North asked, his look turning from bewilderment to curiosity. "Then why did you stop when you were coming here?"

"I-" Jack paused, his leg dropping down as he thought about the question. "I don't know. Something just drew me to her. I've never seen someone react to me like that except a child."

"Was she an adult?"

"Not exactly." Jack pushed himself off of the table and strolled across the room, using the space to think about what he was saying. "She looked like she was maybe nineteen or twenty? So not an adult, but not exactly a child. Somewhere... in between I guess." He wanted to say that she looked to be his age. But then again he was over three hundred years old. The girl was around the age he had been at his death though, the age that he was now permanently frozen at.

"Ahh," North nodded and turned back to his work, picking up the toy soldier that he had been putting the finishing touches on.

"Ahh?" Jack stared at the man's back. "What do you mean 'ahh'? Does that mean something?"

"Well if you felt a pull to her then she must be something special."

The words rang true to Jack, but something in his common sense made him shake his head. "But I see hundreds of humans every day. Couldn't it have just been a coincidence?"

"Ahh, Jack." The older guardian laughed, one hand dropping to his stomach as it bounced. He glanced over his shoulder and smiled. "Nothing is coincidence."

Then he turned back to his work leaving the young guardian to think about what he had just said.

The airport was a mess when I stepped off the plane. Hundreds of people buzzed around, everyone picking up their loved ones who were home for the holidays. I wished I could say that I was there for a happier reason. My aunt and uncle told me that they would be waiting at the airport when I arrived so I let the crowd carry me out of the terminal and down the escalator, craning my head to try and find them.

"Gemma?" At the sound of my name I turned and found my aunt standing a few feet behind me. I must have walked right past her. Her eyes were big and blue- just like my mom's- and I felt my heart tug violently. I put a hand to my chest, half sure that I would find a gaping hole there but the cool fabric of my shirt was all that met my touch.

"Gemma." My aunt opened her arms for me when I got close enough and pulled me in tight. "It's so good to have you here, honey."

"Thanks, Aunt Carol." I said softly, hugging her back.

When we pulled away I brushed my cheek, trying to pretend that I wasn't wiping a tear. "Where's everyone else?"

"Uncle John is waiting in the car and Jamie and Sophie are home with a sitter. We thought it would be best if we both picked you up."

She paused and I knew she was hesitant to bring up the accident. She obviously didn't want to upset me. So instead she smiled and held out her hand.

"Here, I'll help you with your things."

She took a hold of my suitcase and I paused for a minute before following her out of the airport.


	3. Hop, Hop, Hop

**Clarity- Zedd**

**I'm sorry these chapters are so short. I was trying to make them longer but they just break really well at these parts. Hope you guys are enjoying them :)**

The Bennett's house was only about twenty minutes from the airport but we spent most of the ride in silence. My aunt and uncle were both in the front while I sat in the back luggage at my feet. My entire life scattered in trunks around the car. A small metal cage sat on my lap and I ducked my head as I watched my baby rabbit jump around in it. Clove looked a lot happier than I felt. Sighing I lifted my head to gaze out the window, taking in the landscape around me.

There were lots of trees and a lot less sun. A big change from my home in California. A home that I wouldn't see again. My breath fogged up the window and for a moment I wondered where the snow was- it was mid December after all- but I quickly pushed away the thought as I remembered something.

"Uncle John," I said and my uncle's eyes met mine in the rearview mirror.

"Yea, Gemma?"

"How high can birds fly?"

"Birds?" He paused. "I'm not sure, why?"

"I think I saw one next to my plane."

"As you were landing?"

"Um..." This time it was my turn to pause. "Not quite, we were still at about twenty five hundred feet."

My uncle's eyes flicked to mine in the mirror and his eyebrows tensed in confusion. "Next to the plane? Are you sure, Gem? I'm not sure that birds can fly that high. The air's too thin."

_ That's what I thought too... _

I bit my lip. So if it wasn't a bird, then what had I seen? What could possibly fly that high? Cause I knew for sure it was not a cloud and I couldn't have imagined it. Not twice. And a cloud sure as hell could not tap on my window.

Great. I was going insane.

"Oh," I said slowly, pretending that this was something that hadn't occurred to me. "Okay. I guess you're right. My mistake."

I don't know what made me brush it off so fast. Maybe I didn't want my aunt and uncle to think I was insane. Maybe I really didn't want to know what I had seen. Or maybe it was something else. Something I couldn't explain...

I shook off the weird feeling and looked back out the window, returning the car to silence until we reached the house. The Bennett's house looked the same as I remembered from the last time I had been there- just a few years earlier- red and two stories high with a swing hanging from the tree in the front yard. As we pulled up I saw a blonde head appear in one of the windows and a second later the front door burst open.

"Mommy!" My cousin beamed so bright that it lit up her entire face and she bounced twice before starting to make her way down the stairs.

"Sophie, come back here! You don't have your coat on!"

A young girl appeared behind my cousin and smiled apologetically as she grabbed her.

"Sorry about that." She said as she slid Sophie's arms into her coat. "She's a quick one."

My aunt smiled. "It's no problem. Sophie can be quite a handful when she wants to be." She placed her hand on her daughter's head before turning her attention back to the babysitter. "Thank you for watching them, Marie. Mr. Bennett can drive you home."

The girl smiled and nodded before making her way to the car.

I watched her as she went, only mildly curious about when I would get my stuff. All of my bags were still in the car, save for my backpack and the cage that held Clove. Oh well, guess I would just have to unpack when my uncle got home. I turned back to face the house and sighed, trying to hide my sad expression.

My eyes fell to Sophie whose curious gaze was now fixed on me.

"Hey Soph," I said, smiling weakly. "Do you remember me?"

Sophie didn't answer, but instead took one look at the cage in my hands and started clapping her hands.

"Bunny!" She squealed in delight and began to hop in place, mimicking the little animal. "Hop hop hop."

This time a genuine smile graced my face and I bent down, reaching to open the cage.

"Yea, Sophie, it's a bunny. You want to meet her?"

She smiled and nodded eagerly, her hands reaching towards the cage.

I reached into the cage myself and gently picked up the baby rabbit, cradling her in my hand.

"Her name is Clove," I said, holding her out so my cousin could see. "Come here, I'll show you how to pet her."

Sophie stepped closer, her eyes wide, and I gently took her hand and showed her how to stroke Clove with two fingers.

"You see? Not that hard. You just have to be really gentle, okay?"

Sophie nodded and every time she stroked Clove I could see her face light up more and more. She was practically glowing.

I heard someone come up behind me and turned to see my aunt beaming as well.

"I think you made her day." She said. "All Sophie can talk about lately is rabbits, you would think it was still Easter."

She bent down next to me and gently touched Clove's head before turning to my cousin.

"Hey Sophie, do you want to show Gemma where her room is?"

Sophie nodded widely and reached for my hand, gently tugging me towards the door.

"Gem Gem Gem." She sang my name under her breath like a song. Not unlike the way she had said hop when I showed her my rabbit. It was sweet how innocent she was. I wished I could be like that again. But after what had happened, I doubted that it was even possible. Some things leave scars too deep to heal.

Sophie followed my aunt through the doorway but right before I entered the house, I felt a cold breeze nip at my shoulder. I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself. So winter was here after all. I glanced over my shoulder and for a moment I thought that I saw something flash on a rooftop across the street. Great, hallucinating again. Well, better not dwell on it. I sighed softly, then I reached back and closed the door behind me.


End file.
